Bye-bye, diamonds – another engagement ring trend is set to be massive this year

Getting engaged is always going to be a big deal but for lots of us the trappings of a traditional proposal don't appeal anymore.

Even the diamond ring, once an absolute must for anyone getting down on one knee, might have had its day. Couples are now opting for more modern alternatives, according to one expert - especially birthstone engagement rings. Searches for rings with stones unique to the bride's birth month are on the up on Etsy.

"For generations, the diamond has been the ultimate stone for proposing, but today’s bride isn’t tied to the norm — she wants to express her personal style and choose a ring that reflects her personality — which is why in the new year, other gemstones will become go-to staples for engagement rings," the website's trend expert Dayna Isom Johnson told The Zoe Report.

It looks like we're not all tied to the idea of our own birth month, though. May's stone, the emerald, is proving most popular on Etsy. This is followed by sapphires (associated with September) and then opals (October). These new figures back up a trend that's been emerging for a while now. British jeweller Gemporia last year said that 40 per cent of the engagement rings it sells now feature a coloured stone. Even one of the most iconic engagement rings of the past decade, the ring originally worn by Princess Diana that Prince William gave to Kate Middleton, features a sapphire.